THE KIRK OF KILDAIRE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

CARY, NC

www.kirkofkildaire.org

A sermon preached by Joseph Welker, Jr.

Whenever

Matthew 6:1-6;16-21

Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Two seasons a year the church asks us to do something that you don't hear very often. We ask you to look more inward than outward. During Advent-the weeks leading up to Christmas we asked you to prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. Lent, which officially began today, is the time when we ask you to prepare for the coming of Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter… through a time of deep reflection, repentance and self examination. It's a time to do a sort of spiritual check up… to take a deep look within your own soul and to see how things are with God. To reflect upon God's deep love for you and me-a love so great and so deep that it was willing to die for us.

This time of Spiritual reflection is the time the church has encouraged us to take part in spiritual disciplines. In the scripture tonight we hear Jesus mention three of them: almsgiving… praying… and fasting. These are three of several spiritual disciplines Jesus himself practiced and assumed his followers would be practicing.

We lose sight of this when we hear Jesus critiquing the way he sees people practicing them. Mainly for show. When some people give alms… a trumpet sounds so that people can see that you are a faithful giver to the poor. This is not giving to God, says Jesus or even giving to the poor… it is giving to build up a reputation. When some people pray, they are standing up in the church and street corners to make sure people know how spiritual they are. They aren't really interested in prayer, says Jesus… they are just hoping people can see how spiritual they are. They are trying to build up a spiritual reputation. Even fasting… people go to the market or the mall and to church and look hungry and tired and cranky… so that others may admire you for how faithful you are. After all- I'm impressed to actually find someone who fasts… I may not be a Muslim… but when they fast, I think of how they are so committed to faith. Christians, the same way. When I hear about someone who actually fasts- not only gives up chocolate or beer or French fries but gives up food-- For 40 days. For 4 days. For four hours. I'm impressed. Aren't you? But Jesus says, that's not the point.

If you pray, give to the poor and fast for show… you are just play acting- you are a hypocrite… and you miss the point.

But nowhere, nowhere does Jesus say stop doing those things. He himself practiced those spiritual disciplines. With one simple word, it is clear in our text that he assumes his followers will be doing those things which bring us closer to God The word is - Whenever.

Whenever you give alms… do it quietly… people may never know how much you give… but God will. Whenever you pray… close the door…people may even wonder if you are spiritual at all… but God will know your heart. Whenever you fast… put on a little make up … and comb your hair… put on a happy face… they may not know you are in the midst of one of the hardest spiritual disciplines in the world… but God will.

Which is what matters really. That God knows. And even that is not the main point. Giving alms, praying and fasting are important not so much because we are trying to impress God… but because they are some of the spiritual tools God has given us to draw closer to God.

Almsgiving… giving to the poor… may sound like a strange spiritual discipline at first. At first it simply sounds like writing a check. But it is more than that. It is knowing that your sharing makes a difference in the lives of someone else. It is knowing that this brings pleasure to God.

My friend Bill practices this. Bill works in a church in Tampa and God has given him a concern for the poor and the working poor. He practices what is called reverse tipping. He knows that in certain restaurants the waiters and waitresses are scraping by. On a small check he may give far more than 15-20%-- even 50% or 100% of the bill-knowing that this helps someone scraping by. Bill does this quietly and the only way I know about it is that this practice came out in a discussion with my friend who is his pastor. It brings joy to Bill because this … connects Bill with God. He believes it brings joy to God.

Many of you tell me similar stories. You tell me that the closest to God you ever felt was giving yourself away in the service to the poor-- working in a soup kitchen… going down to the Helen Wright Center for abused women and feeding them… going to New Orleans or Appalachia or Washington or Guatemala. You tell me that you felt God's presence in a special way. Maybe during Lent, one spiritual practice might be to volunteer for the Food Bank or the Carying Place. I'd especially suggest going to a place where you actually meet the poor in our community. It is in that meeting and the sharing that we feel closest to God. If Jesus spent so much time with the poor, should we be surprised that we might still meet Jesus there today?

Jesus also said, "Whenever you pray"… Prayer for Jesus was simply a conversation with God. It begs a couple of questions… when was the last time you talked with God… and an even more important question… when was the last time you listened to God… sat quietly … and listened. This is hard to do in a noisy world and if you are like me, there are some seasons when my prayer life is better than other seasons. If you are like me, it is hard to sit and listen. Maybe that's why Jesus said to go into a quiet closet to pray.

The seasons I'm especially good at prayer are in those seasons of desperation… people in foxholes pray… after 911 people were praying… and for many those are the times we reconnect with God. But by themselves they are not enough to develop a mature relationship with God. We all know that deep human relationships happen over time as we spend time with someone and share life with someone. Why should it be different in our relationship with God?

Learning to be fully present with God in prayer takes work. Minds wander… agendas for the day crowd you out holy space. We all know what it is like to have a conversation with someone when they are distracted or preoccupied and are with us in body only. But even that is a good place to begin your conversation with God.

I like the story of the man who was meeting with a spiritual director to for the purpose of learning more about prayer. The man would write down in a journal a review of what had taken place each time he prayed. Often in talking with his spiritual director afterward he would say something like: "I was quite tired while I prayed Monday. " And she would ask him. "Did you speak to the Lord about this?"- "No"- "Do you think it would be a good idea to do that?"- "yes"

Prayer is a wonderful gift God gives us to keep connected. It is about talking to God and listening… listening is important… Listening is how we learn how much we are loved.

I heard the story of the friend walking through a shopping mall with his two year old son. The boy was cranky and out of sorts, and nothing the father did would settle him down. When nothing else works the father finally picks his son up, holds him in his arms and begins to sing to him a song that he makes up as he goes along: "I love you. I love the way you laugh. I'm glad I get to be your dad."
Suddenly this song does what nothing else could. His son's eyes get wide, his mouth closes and grins, he nestles into his father's chest and listens all the way out to the car. When his father puts him into the car seat and buckles him in, his son throws out his arms and says, "Sing it to me again, Daddy. Sing it again."

Prayer-another way God is trying to reach out to us with that message we need to hear… "I love you." God would not want us to live our lives without knowing that.

Jesus said, "and whenever you fast." Now… here is the least used spiritual tool that was widely practiced in Jesus' time. Jesus fasted. I've never fasted. As you can tell. O I hear people give up chocolate or drinking or desserts for lent… but that is about it. I've dieted… but fasting is not about losing weight. Fasting, I've learned is about learning to focus on God. Fasting, I'm told by those who have practiced a form of it-maybe juice fasting… and maybe not for 40 days but for a day or for a few days… I'm told this practice helps us focus on God. The pangs of hunger remind us of our hunger for God. It makes you spiritually sensitive. It reveals that as Jesus said, humans do not live by bread alone… but that life- an abundant life feasts on God and God's love for us. Fasting is a sort of rehab for the soul… a period of time to cleanse the soul. Richard Foster writes that "anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear, if they are within us, they will surface during fasting." Once surfaced, they can be addressed - for they can be the very things that might be separating us from God or one another… they may be the very things God would help us manage or eliminate. God's goal is that we live with joy and love and hope and faith. Fasting is one spiritual tool many have found to grow in that love.

Lent is the season of the year we are encouraged to use those spiritual tools that God has given us to grow closer to God and thus become aware of God's love for us. Tonight we begin as we gather to remember our need for that love. We gather to remember our need for God as the source of our life and love.

We are, all of us dust after all and to dust we shall return… all we see is temporary. Let's be honest. It all turns to dust sooner or later. Which is a good thing to remember now and then. For then, we can remember to invest our lives in something that does last… a relationship with our living, loving God… a God who promises that long after our life is over… will still be there to welcome us into his loving arms. Amen.